Agenda and minutes

Speaker: Chair

John Healey MP, Allan Joyce, Jennefer Holmes (SCR), Jeremy Budd, Michael Bunting, Elizabeth Steel, Sarah Cartwright, Natalie Ward (CityFibre), Billy Murray, Claire Dawson.

Speaker: Chair

Proposed by Cllr May Noble and seconded by Cllr Neil Danforth.

No matters arising.

Speaker: All

·         Cllr May Noble - Trustee for the Dearne Playhouse

·         Andy Lock - Project C

Speaker: Paul Clifford

Heads of Terms have been submitted formally to MHCLG, signed by the Chair of the Goldthorpe Town Deal Board and the Chief Executive of Barnsley Council. The next step is to work on providing the required project confirmation summary documents for the 24th May submission deadline. These documents are being worked on and are on track for completion.

For Project Governance, it would be best practice to review the Town Board memberships, contacting members to ensure all are still happy to be on the board and to potentially bring in new members.

An option being explored for the shortfall in project funding is to look at the Local Authorities fund, as well as alternative match funding sources.

Speaker: Sophie Moore

·         Tiny Forest: Planting of the forest has been completed.

·         Goldthorpe Market: The old site has now been cleared. Maria Cotton and Chris Savage from the markets team are to attend the next Town Board meeting to give a more detailed update on Goldthorpe Market site.

·         Railway Embankment: Works have been completed.

·         Phoenix Park: Works have been completed.

Building acquisition: The building is now owned by the council. A site visit is booked to commence plans with this site. The board were asked if anything of historical value is to be salvaged from the building before demolition, such as a sign or any brickwork to link the history into the new site.

It was suggested to look at salvaging the sign, positioning it somewhere within the new site, and naming the site after the building. Another suggestion was to place a plaque to provide information on the history of the site and of the building. Consultation with local history groups would provide useful information for the plaque and other potential ideas.

Cllr Noble raised the concern of the unoccupied building in Goldthorpe, which was raised at the February meeting. Plans for this building are being picked up by Housing Strategy. It was advised to bring a more detailed update on this strategy to the next board meeting.

·         Action: Sophie to secure signage from building

·         Action: Review Town Board membership

·         Action: Sarah C to provide detailed update on Housing Strategy at next meeting.

Speaker: Claire Dawson

No update.

Speaker: Project Sponsors / All

As mentioned in Town Plan Update, Head of Terms were submitted to MHCLG. The next key stage is the development of the full business cases which is currently ongoing. The Business Case Process was approved by the Capital Oversight Board and is to be brought to the next meeting for sign off.

Project managers have been allocated for each of the key projects in the Town Investment Plan. A site meeting is to take place on Friday 23rd April for the Project Management Team to have an overview session and a walk around Goldthorpe to familiarise themselves with the projects.

Following the introductory meeting, project sponsors from the board will be introduced to the project managers. Project sponsors will be engaged with to confirm they are still committed to be a sponsor.

The 24th May deadline is a reconfirmation on the projects, confirming how much Town Deal funding will be spent on projects, and to outline any expected match funding. The MHCLG also request an approximate annual finance breakdown of the projects. This summary is submitted before the full business case.

·         Action: Engage with project sponsors to confirm commitment and introduce sponsors to Project Managers.

Speaker: Paul Clifford

The main Government update was covered above.

The Art Council have expressed an interest in the Dearne Playhouse. A meeting is scheduled with the Art Council so this project can be discussed further.

Speaker: Jennefer Holmes

The SCR Economic Blueprint work is to be covered in Any Other Business

Speaker: Elizabeth Steel

As mentioned in TIP Project Development, the Business Case Appraisal and Approval Process was approved by the Capital Oversight Board. This process is to be brought to the next board meeting to view and sign off. The full business case template has been updated to align with MHCLG.

The Town Fund website has been updated to show project information, FAQs and news updates for the public. An FAQs section for project ES10 is to be created due to feedback and regular questions coming in.

·         Action: Rachael to pull together FAQs for ES10 Project.

Speaker: Elizabeth Steel

The main risk to the Town Fund is the decreased amount of funding. However, Housing Revenue can meet some funding requirements, as well as other match funding being currently looked at to match the shortfall.

Speaker: Elizabeth Steel

A Points of Clarification document is being worked on to send to MHCLG within the next month. The full business case process can be worked on ready for submission within 10 months.

News stories and case studies are being worked on to promote the accelerated funding projects that have been completed. A mock-up of the case studies was shown to board. This mock-up will act as a template, with one created for each individual project upon completion.

Interactive maps and features, and drone footage, is being looked into to better showcase the projects on the webpage to keep the public engaged and informed.

Transport and travel plans and market update to be given at next meeting.

Master planning is to be developed on the Housing Strategy. The Housing Team are to lead this with third parties to be consulted and an opportunity to engage project sponsors. As mentioned in Item 4a, a detailed update on Housing will be brought to the next board meeting.

AL suggested a Communications Plan to engage with and inform press of the projects, with hopes of conveying the positives of the projects. A Communications Plan document will be requested from the Communications Team’s Lead Officer, with the view of adding a Communications Strategy Update to the agenda going forward.

·         Action: Invite Tracey B, Maria C & Chris S to next meeting.

·         Action: Request Communications Strategy document and add update to future agendas.

Speaker: Laurie Thomas (SCR)

A presentation was shared with the board on the Economic Blueprint and is to be distributed to board members for information.

The Economic Blueprint is a shared commitment to an integrated place-based approach for accelerated growth, focussing on interventions and targeted investment in a number of key growth areas. Engagement is ongoing with local authorities to identify priorities for Infrastructure Place Packages. Meetings are ongoing to contribute to the development of the Economic Blueprint draft.

The blueprint covers an introduction to the place, the background and ambitions, economic potential, and a roadmap structured around spatial priorities and themes relevant to the place. It is aligned to work on the themes from the Town Investment Plan by including them within the blueprint. The blueprint does not align to one particular fund but looks at working together with partners to identify gaps and add value in future to be used for various sources of funding.

The next step is to discuss the document with council leaders, the Chief Executive, and the Mayor to discuss MCA's investment strategy. This will then be presented to the Housing and Infrastructure Board in the future.

The board expressed that the Economic Blueprint work aligning with the Town Investment Plan is a positive and will help to address shortfalls in funding. Thanks was given to the SCR team on work they have done with the blueprint.

“CityFibre is investing in Full Fibre rollout; what does this mean for Goldthorpe?”

Speaker: Natalie Ward (CityFibre)

This item was deferred to the next meeting with apologies sent.

Speaker: All

Students from the University of Southampton are working in partnership with the University of London to explore and understand how Town Boards function. A national survey of town boards and town board members is being undertaken. More information will be sent to individual board members to participate in the optional survey.

The Full Council meeting is on the same day as the next board, so a suggestion was made to reschedule the next meeting to another date.

The Chair sent best wishes for a speedy recovery to Cllr Gardiner who has been unable to attend the past few meetings.

Cllr Noble thanked Cllr Philips, who will retire in early May, for her service in the Dearne.

·         Action: Distribute University of Southampton survey link to board members.

·         Action: Jess to look at rescheduling the next meeting to another date.

Summary of Actions:

·         Sophie: Secure signage from building

·         Sarah: Provide detailed update on Housing Strategy at next meeting

·         Rachael: Pull together website FAQs for ES10 Project

·         Paul: Request Communications Strategy document

·         Paul/Elizabeth: Review Town Board membership

·         Elizabeth: Engage with project sponsors to confirm commitment and introduce sponsors to Project Managers

·         Elizabeth/Jess: Distribute University of Southampton survey link to board members

·         Elizabeth/Jess: Add Communications update to future agendas

·         Jess: Invite Tracey B, Maria C & Chris S to next meeting

·         Jess: Look at rescheduling the next meeting to another date

A glossary of terms will be attached with the minutes for reading.